Richmodis legend

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Richmodis Tower

The Richmodis legend is an old Cologne legend that goes back to an event from the 14th century . The tower of the Richmodis House on Neumarkt in Cologne still picks up on the history architecturally today.

history

The Richmodis saga is originally one of Flanders originating wandering legend back. The Koelhoff Chronicle , printed in 1499, reports on sheet 286 under the heading Anno Domini 1400: “Like a vrauwe zo Coellen, who died and buried what was not upgegraven levendich (alive) ”, in which the woman's name is not yet mentioned. The story of the Aducht family was first mentioned in 1645 by Aegidius Gelenius in his book “ Of the admirable holy and civil greatness of Cologne” (De admiranda sacra et civili magnitudine Coloniae). Later, on a copper engraving based on a panel in the Apostle Church around 1650, the "resurrected" woman was referred to as " Richmuth von der Adoicht " from the Lyskirchen patrician family . The event for the year 1357 is given in both places.

The story was published by the Brothers Grimm in their work Deutsche Sagen (Volume 1) in 1816 under the title “ The horses from the bottom hole ” . In 1843 the legend was retold by Johann Matthias Firmenich-Richartz in vernacular.

The Richmodis legend

The Richmodis legend (drawing by Johann Bussemacher; 1604)

In 1357 the plague killed so many victims in Cologne that it was not possible to bury all corpses in the usual way. In Cologne alone, 20,000 people are said to have died of the plague, which were thrown en masse into large pits. During this time the city councilor and rich patrician and Cologne mayor Richolf Mennegin von der Aducht (also called Mengis von Aducht ) lived happily with his wife Richmodis von Lyskirchen in the house "zum Papageyen" at No. 6 Neumarkt . The plague-afflicted wife was buried in the nearby cemetery near St. Aposteln am Neumarkt. At the funeral, she was left with the precious jewelry, especially the wedding ring. This caught the eye of the gravedigger, who returned at night and tried to steal the corpse's jewelry. Richmodis woke up and frightened the gravedigger so much that he fled without a lantern. The seemingly dead buried sat up and went back home with the lantern. When Richmodis knocked on the door of her house in a shroud, no one wanted to let in the supposed ghost . After a long knock, the “servants” finally opened and told Mengis from the Aducht that his wife was at the door. In disbelief he replied: “That is impossible. My white horses would rather be up in the hayloft. ”Six white horses were already trampling up the stairs and looking out of the roof. Ms. Richmodis recovered from health and gave birth to three children. There is documentary evidence that there was a plague epidemic in Cologne at that time. On October 2, 1358, the Archbishop of Cologne, Wilhelm von Gennep, took action against forgery of wills related to plague deaths. And as a memento, two horse heads are still looking out of the Richmodisturm on the street named after her in Cologne.

The saying “Ahm Nümaat two Päädsköpp” (two horse heads at Neumarkt) has since expressed the speaker's disbelief.

The Richmodis legend around 1650

Wall painting around 1650 (formerly in the northern parish hall of St. Aposteln )

“When one was born M.CCCLVII year,
All here in Cöllen was a great death,
Vmb four vears in the afternoon,
A wonderful thing that dageschach,
A Erbar fraw Richmuth called
In the fifteen sexes well known
From the Adoicht, this was her origin
in the Papegeyen you obviously had what it takes.

These dies as you vermeinet,
Vnd when you were now buried solt,
by loving the Ehestandts Ohn to anger
her husband her trewring the finger was
thus one to the grave hintrug.
The grave-digger despair enough, the
evening late with his servant.
Your Schantzen was her name right.

The ark they dug out of the earth,
And they hoped the ring should be like this,
So that the servant would break the lid
As soon as the fraw rises up In
front of scares that both walk,
And the fraw leave the lucers standing there:
With which she go home and do
the bell So that she can wake up the man and that he will do something.

The one who announced her at the stim and the ring went there
soon, let her in to handle,
with fewer and tastes he would refresh her
. She was sent to fresher health.
Drey young sons afterwards you wore the
you God don’t know enough thanks.
Which three entered into spiritual orders and would
praise God our masters at all times. "

- Wall painting around 1650 (formerly in the northern parish hall of St. Aposteln ) .

Related sagas

Legends with a similar story are also known from other regions. For example, the legend of the white horse from Magdeburg , horses look out to the granary from Freiburg im Breisgau, as well as the fasting cloth in Freiburg cathedral or the horses in Dunkirk .

Trivia

In 1875, Jean Marie Farina arranged a "Horrible Opera" for the Cologne Men's Singing Association : "Richmodis von Aducht and the Singers' War on Neumarkt". With this opera, the Divertissementchen appeared for the first time in the Cologne City Theater in 1875 . Hermann Unger wrote another opera on the legend : Richmodis von Aducht (op. 50; Legenden Volksoper in one prelude and three acts).

The Richmodis saga found its way into the Cologne songs several times. In 1990 the Cologne dialect group Bläck Fööss used the legend as the basis for the ballad Richmodis by Aducht . The dialect singer Hans-Jürgen Jansen, who appears as Kölnbarde , also deals with the story of Richmodis in his song of the same name. The Cologne musician and founder of the music group BAP , Wolfgang Niedecken , published a song on the Richmodis legend in January 2004 with the title Zwei Päädsköpp ahm Nümaat .

The name of the Kölsch brand Richmodis Kölsch goes back to the old folk legend.

Web links

literature

Audio books

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Adam Wrede : Neuer Kölnischer Sprachschatz , Volume KR, p. 357.
  2. ↑ 341. The horses from the bottom hole on literaturnetz.org, accessed on August 18, 2017.
  3. ↑ Ph. M. Klein, Der Wanderer durch Köln , 1863, p. 177.
  4. ^ Bernhard Maximilian Lersch, Geschichte der Volksseuchen , 1896, p. 156.
  5. ↑ a b Erich Bockenmühl / Gustav Olms, Niederrheinisches Sagenbuch , 1930, p. 151 f.
  6. ↑ Peter Fuchs (Ed.), Chronicle of the History of the City of Cologne , Volume 1, 1991, p. 295.
  7. ↑ The Richmodis saga - the verses of the mural  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on erzbistum-koeln.de, accessed on December 24, 2012.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / gemeinden.erzbistum-koeln.de  
  8. ^ The legend of the white horse , accessed on December 24, 2012.
  9. ↑ Horses look out to the attic , accessed December 24, 2012.
  10. ↑ Lent cloth in the Freiburg Cathedral , accessed on December 30, 2012
  11. ^ The horses at Dunkirk , accessed December 24, 2012.
  12. ↑ Richmodis of Aducht . Bläck Fööss. Retrieved July 21, 2019.
  13. ^ Hans-Jürgen Jansen: Richmodis . Retrieved July 21, 2019.
  14. ↑ Niedecken Songs ... "Zwei Päädsköpp ahm Nümaat" aufbap-fan.de, accessed on December 25, 2012.
  15. ↑ Richmodis Kölsch on Kölschführer.de, accessed on August 18, 2017.